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“There is something about human beings that makes our 'love for the world' often look like hatred for it. Jesus said 'Do not think I have come to bring peace on earth. I have not come to bring peace but a sword.' (Matthew 10:34) He said a number of things. 'Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you' (Matthew 5:44), for example. And "Put your sword back in it's place, for all who live by the sword will perish by the sword.' (Matthew 26:52) But for whatever reason - as a Calvinist I might propose our fallen state - human beings have found the obedience to the commandment to love one another modified by the statement I quoted first (which does not have the form of a commandment although it is taken to have the force of one). And it has inspired the response: 'Send me, Lord!' with far more passion and consistency than the commandment which tradition says is the last Jesus gave us: that we 'love one another' (John 15:17). As a consequence, Christians have often loved their enemies to death. Their enemies often being other Christians.” — Marilynne Robinson